Apparatus and method for the storage and launching of a missile

ABSTRACT

A container of square or rectangular sections receives two slide rails which are fixed therein, the missile being held in the rails by means of front, central and rear shoes composed of polyurethane foam blocks. The missile, rails, rear shoes and central shoes are assembled outside the container and then inserted inside the container whereupon the rails are secured to the container. Covers at the rear and front of the container are made of plastic, the front cover having a central weak zone which is destroyed under the thrust of the front shoes when the missile is launched.

Matte Ettes Patent 1191 [111 3,789,729 Aupy Feb. 5, 1974 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR THE 3.l35,162 6/1964 Kamalian 89/L817 S O G A LAUNCHHNG OF A MISSILE 3,160,062 l2/l964 Moy et a]... 89/l.8l8 3,140,638 7/1964 De Luca..., Inventor: Roland Rolland py, 2,817,272 12/1957 Gunder Ruelle-sur-Trouvre, France 3,610,095 10/1971 Black et a] 89/ 1.816 [73] Assignee: Etat Francais represente par le Ministre dEtat charge de la Defense Primary Examiner-Samuel W. Engle Nationale Delegation, Pari Fran Attorney, Agent, or FirmEric H. Waters et a]. [22] Filed: Feb. 23, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 228,577 [571 ABSTRACT A container of square or rectangular sections receives [30] F i Application p i Data two slide rails which are fixed therein, the missile Feb 24 1971 France 71 06207 being held in the rails by means of front, central and rear shoes composed of polyurethane foam blocks.

The missile rails rear shoes and central shoes are as- 52 US. Cl 89 1.8 91.81 8 5 Int Cl 8 sembled outside the container andthen inserted inside [58] Field of 1 819 the container whereupon the rails are secured to the container. Covers at the rear and front of the container are made of plastic, the front cover having a [56] References Cited central weak zone which is destroyed under the thrust of the front shoes when the missile is launched. UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,225,655 12/1965 lnelis 89/1.816 8 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures 6b Z7E\\\\,\KKW/ //A IP 14/7 i i I, I g 5- l L U 6 2 a 4 2 7 3 PATENTEDFEB 5 m4 3789,7129

" sum 3 or 3 FIG IZ FIG/3 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to improvements in apparatus and methods for the storage and launching of missiles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of this invention is to provide apparatus for the storage and launching of missiles which allows such drawbacks to be obviated.

The invention contemplates the provision of a container of rectangular or square cross-section for the storage and launching of a missile comprising longitudinal rails slidably supporting the missile in the interior of the container, said longitudinal rails being attachable to the walls of said container by quick-disconnect means, and plastic slide shoes arranged between the missile and the rails.

In further accordance with the invention, the rails and the plastic shoes are arranged in at least two opposed groups. I

The launching rails are composed of lightweight alloy caissons arranged on opposite sides of the missile.

The plastic shoes are each composed of a rear shoe section cemented to the rails so-as to define at the rear of the missile a clear region for receiving a launching connection, a central shoe section entrained by the missile and sliding on thelaunching rails, and a front shoe section entrained by the central shoe.

The material of these shoes is a rigid polyurethane foam of a density opproximately equal to 0.12.

The container is composed of panels formed of juxtaposed thicknesses of a lightweight alloy and rigid plastic, said panels being joined along their longitudinal edges through the intermediary of hollow corner members.

A front cover of the container is made of metallized plastic and is cambered outwardly, presenting a zone of minimum resistance constituting a pre-fragmentation zone which is opened under the thrust of the front shoe section on blast-off. The front shoe section surrounds the front tip of the projectile and is made of at least two portions abutting one another on the axial plane of the container, the portions being seperable from one another so as to allow their separation from the missile on launching.

The invention is also directed to a method for mounting the missile in a container as described. The method comprises assembling outside the container: the projectile, the rear and central shoe sections, the rails and the launching plug, then introducing this assembly into the container and securing the rails to the container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section taken along line ll-ll in FIG. 2 showing the assembly of a missile in a container;

FIG. 2 is a transverse section taken along line 2-2 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 4 showing the container without the missile;

FIG. 4 is a transverse section taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 3; I

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal section taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 6 showing the missile assembly without the container;

FIG. 6 is a front view of the missile assembly before introduction into the container;

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal section taken along line 7-7 in FIG. 8 showing a stage in the introduction of the missile into the container;

FIG. 8 is a front view of the assembly in FIG. 7 after introduction into the container;

FIG. 9 is an end view of a detachable front brace equipped with rollers;

FIG. 10 is a front view of the front end of the container;

FIG. 11 is a section taken along line HH in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a front view of a front shoe section; and FIG. 13 is a section taken on line 1313 in FIG. 12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to FIG. 1, therein is seen a container 1 for the storage and launching of a missile 2. The container has a rectangular cross-section and is constituted by four panels joined together at the comers. Each panel is composed of juxtaposed thicknesses of a lightweight alloy and a suitable plastic material such as rigid polyurethane foam of a density equal to 0.12. Guide members 7 and rear attachment members 8 are-affixed to the container for a purpose to be described later. A rear cover 9 and a front cover 10 are respectively joined to the container by means of screws. The container is sealed by means of O-rings' 11 at the ends. When assembled, the container is hermetically closed and free of surface roughness or indentations which could promote corrosion.

Secured within the container is the missile 2 and its appurtenant structure constituted by guide shoes and launching rails 3. The shoes and launching rails are first assembled with the missile outside the container, and

then the assembly is inserted into the container whereafter the latter is closed and sealed.

The launching rails 3 are made of unmachined lightweight alloy material and the shoes of a plastic material such as rigid, polyurethane foam of 0.12 density.

The guide shoes are constituted of rear sections 4, central sections 5, and a front section 6. The rear sections 4 are fixed to the guide rails 3 by cementing or the like. When the missile is launched, it slides on rear sections 4 of the guide shoes. The rear sections 4 define an open region at the rear of the missile for reception of a launching connection 18 connected to the missile and fixed to one of the rails 3.

The central sections 5 are entrained by the missile for travel therewith and slide on rails 3 when the missile is launched. The front section 6 is also slidable on the rails 3 and is entrained by sections 5 when the missile is launched. The front section 6 is formed to surround the tip of the missile as shown in FIG. 1 and the front section 6 is engaged with front cover 10. When the missile is launched, the front section 6 causes the front cover to burst so that the missile can leave the container. The front section 6 is made of two parts 6a, 6b which are in abutment at the median plane of the container. A spring 20 is interposed between parts 6a and 6b to urge the same apart and when the front section leaves the container, the parts 6a and 6b are separated from the inissile by the action of spring 20.

The central sections 5 are automatically ejected at the moment the missile exits from the container, their ejection being facilitated by the shape of their front ends. The rear of the missile reaches the front end of the rear section 4 at the instant the rear of the central section reaches the front end of the launching rails 3 so that the missile is freed simultaneously at the front and at the back.

The mounting of the missile inside the container is effected as follows:

Outside the container, the missile is mounted between the launching rails with the rear and central sections sandwiched therebetween. The rails 3 are joined at the rear by a brace 13 which will subsequently be inwardly to allow them to withstand any contingent external overpressures. The covers are made of plastic material which is metallized so as to make them resistant to electromagnetic radiation.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for the storage and launching of a missile comprising a container, longitudinal metal rails for the slidable support of the missile within the container, said rails being rigidly secured to the container, and front, central and rear sliding shoes disposed between the missile and the rails, said sliding shoes forming a continuous sliding surface, the rear shoes being secured to the rails, the central and front shoes being slidable on said rails, the central shoes being entrained by the missile for sliding on the rails, the front shoes being entrained by the central shoes and traveling with the missile at the time of launch, and a front opening cover on said container, said cover including a zone of least resistance which is capable of opening under the pressure serted in the container to abut and be secured to parts I 8 fixed to the container. A temporary brace 12 (see also FIG. 9) mounted on rollers joins the front ends of the two longitudinal rails. The brace 12 will subsequently be detached inside the container after engagement of the missile assembly therewithin. The launching connection is then connected to the missile and to a control unit. The missile is attached at the rear of the container by means of brittle rods, or rods which can be released by means of a pyrotechnic device.

The missile assembly is inserted into the container, by running the rollers of the front brace 12 on slide rails temporarily arranged on thelower panel of the container. These slide rails are dismantled before the closure of the container.

The front and rear braces allow a lateral clearance of the rails. Tightening is determined so that the supporting force of the shoes on the missile may have a given value. The guide members 7 fit into corresponding grooves in the rails and the guide members 7 are mounted in elastic supports such as rubber to provide a certain elasticity.

After dismantling the front brace 12, the front shoe sections are put in position on the front of the missile.

The front and rear covers 9 and 10 are then affixed to the container. The front cover 10 is made of a plastic material and is prefragmented by the formation of grooves therein. This prefragmentation serves to facilitate separation and can be effected as shown in FIGS. 10and 11 or by any other means. The rear cover is similar to the front cover, being merely provided at the center with a circular prefragmentation groove of suitable size. The two covers 9 and 10 are cambered outof the front shoes when the missile is launched, said front shoes loosely surrounding the front tip of the missile, said front shoes being constituted of at least two parts joined along the axial plane of the missile and being separable from the missile upon launching, said shoes being of such length'that the rear of the missile reaches the front of the rear shoes at the same time that the rear of the central shoes reaches the front of the rails so that the missile is simultaneously freed at the front and back. I

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said launching rails are constituted by lightweight alloys disposed opposite one another with respect to the axis of symmetry of the missile.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said shoes are a foam material whose density is in the region of 0.12.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the container is constituted by Stratified panels formed of superposed thicknesses of a lightweight alloy and a rigid plastic foam material, and hollow profile members joining said panels together along the longitudinal edges thereof.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said metal rails are two in number arranged on opposite sides of the missile, the shoes of each section also being two in number.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said front shoes include tapered front portions bearing against said cover in said zone of least resistance.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 wherein said front shoes include spring means for separating the two parts of the front shoes when they have exited from the container, said spring means being engaged in said tapered front portions of the front shoes and forward of the front tip of the missile,

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said front cover is a metallized plastic material which is outwardly curved, said zone of least resistance being formed by the placement of a diametric groove in the cover. 

1. Apparatus for the storage and launching of a missile comprising a container, longitudinal metal rails for the slidable support of the missile within the container, said rails being rigidly secured to the container, and front, central and rear sliding shoes disposed between the missile and the rails, said sliding shoes forming a continuous sliding surface, the rear shoes being secured to the rails, the central and front shoes being slidable on said rails, the central shoes being entrained by the missile for sliding on the rails, the front shoes being entrained by the central shoes and traveling with the missile at the time of launch, and a front opening cover on said container, said cover including a zone of least resistance which is capable of opening under the pressure of the front shoes when the missile is launched, said front shoes loosely surrounding the front tip of the missile, said front shoes being constituted of at least two parts joined along the axial plane of the missile and being separable from the missile upon launching, said shoes being of such length that the rear of the missile reaches the front of the rear shoes at the same time that the rear of the central shoes reaches the front of the rails so that the missile is simultaneously freed at the front and back.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said launching rails are constituted by lightweight alloys disposed opposite one another with respect to the axis of symmetry of the missile.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said shoes are a foam material whose density is in the region of 0.12.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the container is constituted by stratified panels formed of superposed thicknesses of a lightweight alloy and a rigid plastic foam material, and hollow profile members joining said panels together along the longitudinal edges thereof.
 5. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said metal rails are two in number arranged on opposite sides of the missile, the shoes of each section also being two in number.
 6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said front shoes include tapered front portions bearing against said cover in said zone of least resistance.
 7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 wherein said front shoes include spring means for separating the two parts of the front shoes when they have exited from the container, said spring means being engaged in said tapered front portions of the front shoes and forward of the front tip of the missile.
 8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said front cover is a metallized plastic material which is outwardly curved, said zone of least resistance being formed by the placement of a diametric groove in the cover. 